Julie Kagawa

Unable to forget a human boy's sacrifice on her behalf, Ember resolves to save him from execution and learns unsettling secrets about both sides of the underground battle between Talon and St. George. By the best-selling author of the Iron Fey series.

Rogue

Sonja H

Courtney ✿ @librarycutie

Actual Rating: 4.5 stars


Let me start off by saying I've been in a huge book slump for going on 3 weeks and I am thrilled that Rogue had go me out of it. I read the majority of it in 2 days. I LOVED this book! It was definitely better than Talon, the first book in the series.

As I mentioned in my review for Talon, Dragons excite me! I just love the idea of this series, An organization of Dragons, rogue dragons, humans in the dragon organization, dragon slayers, and even rogue dragon slayers! Oh what a story!

This book contains POVs of Ember, Riley/Cobalt, Garret, and Dante. You get a different perspective and a bigger idea of what's going on! Like with Dante, He has his sister, Ember, in heart, but he's too deep in Talon. He wouldn't dare betray them, he believes in what they do, and that they are the good of their kind.

By the way, Cobalt is Riley's dragon name, he has a new name, Riley, so he won't be noticed. Considering Cobalt is a dragon name. Just wanted to clear the confusion of his two names..

Of course, If you have read Talon and Rogue, then you know that Talon only cares about the safety of their future. They would kill anyone who isn't Team Talon, and any flicker of disloyalty, they're gone! If you're still in the system, then they'll set up a mission gone wrong for you, they can't have any rogue dragons in their team. Which is why they want a stop to Cobalt and his team of rogue dragons and talon humans. Cobalt is freeing the dragons, even though they may be in hiding from the Viper Dragons, it's better than having no say is what you do with your long dragon life.

I won't spoil anything, or much... Garret was a member of St. George, unwillingly might I add. His family was killed by dragons, so he was sent to St. George, where he was raised as the Perfect Soldier until he met Ember. In the book, Talon, He had a vision of truth. What he's learned about dragons were false. Ember has proven him wrong, and he's fallen hard for her. They have some connection that they shared in a Crescent Beach, and he risked everything he lived for, just to save this red dragon. Ember of course has some feelings for Garret, that's undeniable. Theres just that one problem… he's a human, and she's a dragon. She's a dragon that will live for decades longer than him.

Then there's Cobalt/Riley. The blue dragon that sparks life in Embers dragon. They've had a connection since they've first come in contact with each other basically. It was inevitable. I can't deny that I LOVE them together. The nickname he has for her, Firebrand! Ah! It just gives me sweet sweet chills. That's not strange, right? He FINALLY admits his feelings towards her when he was still under the dosage of truth serum, and I have a feeling they'll share a steamy moment in book 3, Soldier.

Alas, There is a twist, a betrayal that I sure didn't see coming until it happened. It's at Part 3, for those of you who have read it, you know what I mean. I won't spoil the good details.

I might've already mentioned this, but I really enjoyed Rogue, much more than I did Talon. There was a lot of action, an epic dragon fight near the end, and the rescue scene in the beginning was exciting! I have no idea when Book 3, Soldier, will come out, but I hope it doesn't take too long because I can't wait forever! Julie Kagawa, you've made me love Dragons even more!


  Update:
 It is stated that Solider, Book 3 of the Talon series, is set to release in May 2017!

Kerry Gibbons

Not as great as the first one but still pretty darned enjoyable. Third book already downloaded. 

A note on the voice actors for the audiobook:

One of the characters is an English hacker. While the guy who reads for Riley does a questionable if generally passable English accent, he’s mostly consistent and I’ve come to accept it. I can’t remember at all if the guy reading Garrett ever does this character’s voice. He must have and it must have been unremarkable which is probably a good thing. BUT THE WOMAN READING EMBER DOES SOMETHING BETWEEN ELIZA DOOLITTLE AND CROCODILE DUNDEE. So, be warned. It’s a travesty. 

She also says “room” funny and says it an unbelievable number of times in these books.

Jelke Lenaerts

I quite liked this. From reviews I've seen the overall opinion about this is that people like it less than the first one but I personally liked it more. Yes, it was pretty slow but in my opinion so was the first book. I feel like we learned a lot more in this one and overall just figured out a lot of interesting things. I also really liked the addition of Dante's POV. I just think that made the story more interesting. I do kind of wish we got more of it though. He's a very interesting character doing very interesting things and I would have loved this book a lot more if he was a bigger part of it. Talking about that I think if this book was just Riley and Dante I would adore this book. I just think what Riley does is super interesting and engaging and the drama Ember kind of brings into it I hate. Talking about Ember, she is by far my least favourite character in this book. A lot of YA protagonists used to be like this back when this was published but recentely I've just gotten so exhausted of this type of protoganist and Ember is a very annoying example of it. Garret also has a pretty interesting storyline but I feel like its bogged down to much with the love triangle drama. I did quite like the ending of this one as well and can't wait to see what that will mean for the rest of this series.

Jeni Enjaian

Kagawa does not waste the second book. She manages to continue the world building while advancing the plot and creating a book capable of standing on its own two feet. (By that I do not mean that this is a stand alone book. I mean that it is complete within itself and not just a chunk of narrative completely dependent on the first and subsequent books to function.) 
I do have a fairly significant complaint, not one large enough to keep me from reading the third book in the series when it is released, but one that, for me, takes away from the otherwise outstanding narrative that Kagawa creates. That complaint is that Kagawa, for some unknown reason, decides to throw in a lot more gratuitous swearing. It's not that she has never used "foul language" in any of her other books. It's that almost every time she uses it in this book, it is not necessary. That, in my opinion, is a sign of weakness in an author, a sign that she is not talented enough to think of more appropriate words to express the sentiment she desires to get across. *Getting off my soap box now*
The action in the narrative is fast paced and answers plenty of questions raised by the first book while raising other questions which the third book will likely answer. 
I still recommend the book and series but not quite as heartily as the Iron Fey series.

Deserter. Traitor. ROGUE. Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But she can't forget Garret, the soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George who saved her from a Talon assassin--and by doing so, signed his own death warrant. Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. A reckoning is brewing, and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day...or start an all-out war?

Briana Pruscino

I really enjoyed this to a point. The love triangle (or square including the dragon side of Ember? idk) felt really forced. The world and the overall plot is very very intriguing, but i wished there was less love triangling and more plot moving moments!! It got a little boring at the end but the last page was promising and I'm looking forward to reading the next novel!

Wren Hardwick

This is so boring and flat. The characters are one dimensional. Hormones are everywhere and not in the good way. I just can't go on with this series. I don't enjoy it. And I am actually pretty bummed about it because I love the idea.

Deserter Traitor ROGUE. Ember Hill left the dragon organization Talon to take her chances with rebel dragon Cobalt and his crew of rogues. But Ember can't forget the sacrifice made for her by the human boy who could have killed her--Garret Xavier Sebastian, a soldier of the dragonslaying Order of St. George, the boy who saved her from a Talon assassin, knowing that by doing so, he'd signed his own death warrant. Determined to save Garret from execution, Ember must convince Cobalt to help her break into the Order's headquarters. With assassins after them and Ember's own brother helping Talon with the hunt, the rogues find an unexpected ally in Garret and a new perspective on the underground battle between Talon and St. George. A reckoning is brewing and the secrets hidden by both sides are shocking and deadly. Soon Ember must decide: Should she retreat to fight another day...or start an all-out war? 'The first in a new series, Talon leaves readers perfectly balanced between satisfaction and anticipation' - BookPage 'Kagawa knows just how to end a first volume for maximum cliff-hanger drama' - Booklist 'A strong, promising start to the Talon Saga' - Publishers WeeklyThe Talon Saga 1.Talon - out now 2.Rogue - 7th May 2015 3. Soldier - May 2016 4. Legion - November 2016

Rogue

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